Comparative Analysis of RF Heating of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices (CIEDs) in Conventional Closed-bore vs. Vertical Open-bore MRI Systems.

Radiofrequency (RF) induced tissue heating during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the predominant safety risk for patients with active electronic implants such as cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) which typically have elongated conductive leads. Currently, abandoned CIED leads, as well as CIEDs with epicardial leads, are contraindicated for MRI exams. Recent studies have demonstrated the superior safety of vertical, open-bore MRI systems regarding RF heating compared to conventional closed-bore scanners. However, these studies only investigated deep brain stimulation (DBS) and passive devices. In this study, we compared the RF heating of three commercially available epicardial leads in clinically available closed-bore and open-bore MRI systems. Results from the phantom experiments revealed significantly lower RF heating with up to a nine-fold reduction in the mean temperature rise in the tissue-mimicking gel. Our results are in line with previous findings, suggesting that vertical MRI systems can offer a potentially safer platform for imaging this patient population.